Transmedia promotions have proven a marketing “dependent” within the industry –  either its a pressing commercial event, such as launch parties, or downloadable prequels; they’re all becoming dependents. Though the hardcore market hasn’t adapted to this strategy,  THQ has announced a downloadable prequel to Red Faction Armageddon.

In a recent interview, executive vice president of core games, Danny Bilson, said that Armageddon would “benefit” from the publishers plan to transport they’re franchises onto other huge platforms, such as XBLA and PSN.

“There’s going to be a Red Faction arcade game that ships about three or four months before Armageddon,” said Bilson. “What’s interesting is that we will sell it to the fans, it will have content you can download that is TV show-related, it will build up to the new game and also we can use it to drive pre-orders, too; we can give codes and aspects of it, we can give the whole thing away.”

Bilson continued to state that the publisher is planning “multi-faceted minigames” as revenue generators and marketing tools for other franchises as well. “You’ll see it on Red Faction, you’ll see it on Saints Row and a couple of others,” he said. “Not only that, we have a comic book coming on it as well.”

It’s apparent that Battlefield 1943 is one of the best downloadable titles this generation, and to prove this fact even more relevant, DICE has revealed that Battlefield 1943 has sold, and/or has been downloaded, over 1 Million times via Xbox Live; making Battlefield the fastest title to reach 1M units sold on the service.

“The reception of Battlefield 1943 continues to amaze us, even months after the game was released,” says Gordon Van Dyke, Producer on Battlefield 1943. “Being the fastest game to reach this milestone is an incredible achievement. The game has set a new standard for what can be done in the downloadable games category. It’s fantastic to see how gamers have recognized the value that the game delivers for just $15. It is another great entry point into the Battlefield franchise.”

Originally released in July 2009, Battlefield 1943 has won over 4 game critic awards and is the most popular download-only multiplayer action game. It’s current available on Xbox LIVE Arcade for 1200 MS Points or on PlayStation Network for $15. The game will soon also be available for PC.

LucasArts has stated that it’s going back to what made them so famous in the first place, creativity. And there’s nothing more creative than their newest title, Lucidity – which was revealed in the latest episode of GameTrailers TV.

Lucidity is a puzzler/platformer that stars a young girl that goes by the name of Sophie, who lives with her grandmother, and is having these dreams. However, Sophie’s grandmother is getting old, and, in these dreams, they’re usually about her looking for her grandmother.

But, instead of controlling Sophie. In Lucidity, players command of the level, altering it as Sophie – who wanders around controlled by AI – goes around. Lucidity will be available later this month on Xbox Live Arcade.

I’m really starting to wonder what “breaking an Xbox Live sales record” really means because, every week, this seems to be the issue. Anyway, adding to the list of many Xbox Live record breakers, Microsoft today dubbed Chair Entertainment‘s action-adventure game Shadow Complex “the most downloaded single-player title in Xbox Live Arcade history,” meaning that it has planted itself as an “XBLA sales record breaker”. So, from us here at GamerCenterOnline. Shadow Complex… we congratulate you. O yeah, by the way, Microsoft hasn’t revealed your sales numbers yet (that’s just there for all of you that were hoping they would).

When revealing the special editions for Modern Warfare 2, there was the mention of a downloadable version of the original Call of Duty. However, it was said that you’ll have to buy either the Hardened or Prestige editions be given a token for the game. But, people have been wondering if Activison would be selling the game as a stand-alone arcade game.

“Prestige and Hardened Edition buyers will be getting access to Call of Duty: Classic first. It’ll eventually be coming out for both Xbox Live Arcade and PSN as a stand-alone arcade game,” Community Manager Robert Bowling confirmed to IGN.

Bowling also added that the game will have working multiplayer. “However, price and release date are unknown at this point. It’s the true original Call of Duty including full multiplayer.”

With the recent release of Battlefield 1943, it’s likely that the title would release at $15 to contend with Battlefield’s price.

With a name such as “Prestige” the only conclusion is that it would cost an arm and a leg. To add to that, there’s the fact that it comes fully packed with a pair of “fully functional night version goggles”. Seems like it’s going to cost alot, doesn’t it.

So what’s the cost Infinity Ward? Their response; a reasonable price.

To get the “Prestige” version, which includes an art book, limited Steelbook case and a token to download the original Call of Duty, plus the “fully functional” night version goggles, you should expect to pay $149 USD, almost twice that of the $79 “Hardened” edition.

Infinity Ward also confirmed, via its Twitter account, that the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network versions of the original Call of Duty will have multiplayer support.

[Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition Comes With Prestige Price via Kotaku]

During the Microsoft keynote, Epic Games revealed their upcoming title Shadow Complex, which is the developers first arcade title, coming exclusive to Xbox Live arcade.

The game combines the best of old-school side-scroller design with modern, cutting-edge gameplay and incredible high-definition graphics. Collect power-ups, discover new abilities and evolve your character into a force of destruction as you explore an original story set in the world of Orson Scott Card’s best-selling novel, Empire.

After months of rumors, it seems that one of our favorite past times returns “due to popular demand”, but this time it’s making its nex-gen debut on your nearest marketplace.

The return of the title will be called Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes and it’s headed onto XBLA and PSN. However, the game was rumored time and time again, but Capcom hasn’t said anything on the title until now. 

In addition, it was revealed that there will be an exclusive demo on the game, which is set to release on April 30th only on PSN. 

Here are the details of the demo: Two-player local matches; Six available characters – Ryu, Chun-Li, Strider, Spider-Man, Iron Man and Wolverine; Seven selectable environments; Upscaled 1080p graphics; Widescreen or 4:3 aspect ratio; Two graphic filter options for character sprites; And other cool options to check out.

It’s very easy to tell that Paramount and Bad Robot’s downloadable title is a Star Trek game that is a top-down, space combat arcade title – which will be available on PSN and Live. But, other then that, we get very mixed up on the ‘DAC’ part of the title, and I mean really mixed.

Star Trek: DAC is “focused on fun, not a retelling of the story” of JJ Abram’s upcoming Star Trek reboot, according to Ben Hoyt, senior producer at Paramount Games. When calling Star Trek: DAC a mixture of Subspace and Geometry Warswhen describing the game.

Developed by Roboblitz creators Naked Sky Entertainment, Star Trek: DAC will support 12-person multiplayer, with two teams of six. AI bots will fill in the blanks if needed, or should your federation of online friends be unavailable. The game will also feature three modes, including solo play, cooperative play and a versus mode. Star Trek: DAC is due to hit Xbox Live Arcade in May, on or near the release of the movie.

 [First Details On Star Trek: DAC via Kotaku]

It was announced at Microsoft’s E3 2008 press conference that Banjo-Kazooie will be made available for download on Xbox Live Arcade. Now, today a Youtuber posted a 10 minute video showing some gameplay for the upcoming game for Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade, which was remade from the N64 version so that it is capable with the Xbox 360, entitled Banjo Kazooie. The game will come with a 15 dollar price tag and will be downloadable on Xbox Live Arcade on November 26. When this game was released on the N64 it got very high scores and it’s trying to do the same on the Xbox 360. The game is developed by Rare, which was brought out by Microsoft sometime ago.

In an interview with Joystiq, Xbox representative Jason Ing revealed that Duke Nukem 3D has passed certification and is expected to release “sometime in September.” The Xbox Live Arcade revival, which sports the same minimal graphical enhancements as Doom did on the service, is being published by Microsoft and is an exclusive release for the platform.

The achivement list for the upcoming Duke Nukem 3D port was released today via the achievement guru, Achieve360Points. At first glance this is sign that the game has undergo certification and should be released very soon. Here’s what 3D Realms George Broussard had to say when speaking to ShackNews, “We officially passed final certification on our first try Friday, August 15th,”. While no price has been mention, ShackNews goes on to say that most games of this upcoming fall will fall behind the 800 and 1200 Microsoft point mark with a retail value between $10-15.

Doublesix announced it’s development of South Park for Xbox Live Arcade, which was recently announced by Microsoft at E3 last month. James Brooksby, Doublesix’s Studio Head, said, “We are incredibly pleased to be working with Microsoft Game Studios and South Park Digital Studios on this fantastic game. We have a high caliber team working (and laughing) away here and they can’t wait to let loose their creation on an unsuspecting world…”

With this announcement it was also made public that they won Best New UK/European Studio at the Develop Awards last week – reaffirming their status as leaders and innovators in digitally distributed game development.

You knew it was going to come sometime, so why should are you so shocked? Just kidding. Today, Activision and Microsoft announced the highly anticipated Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 for Xbox Live Arcade. But, still I find my self thinking more about the upcoming update for the 360 dashboard. Anyway, the game is being developed by the industry veterans at Bizarre Creations and it will be the the sequel to the smash hit, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.

Scheduled to make their appearance at 2008′s Electronic Entertainment Expo, D3 Publisher has revealed there list for the upcoming expo. And it’s looks like Naruto and Ben 10 both will be making the show this year and this year once again they are both Cartoon Network’s property.

One Chanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers (Wii)

Naruto : Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 ( Wii )

Puzzle Quest : Galactrix ( DS – Xbox Live Arcade – PC )

Ben 10 : Alien Force (DS – PSP -PS2 -Wii)

Naruto : Path of the Ninja 2 ( DS )

Bangai-O Spirits ( DS )

Shaun le Mouton ( DS )

There is a rumor going around that Mega Man 9 maybe on it’s way to Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. Capcom is yet to give confirmation about the rumor.

It is also rumored that Mega Man 9 will introduce new characters into the game with online multiplayer and leaderboards.

"The series will introduce new characters, provide online multiplayer, and will have leaderboards. The game will be hitting the Xbox 360 on Live and the PlayStation 3 on PSN. For those of you in Japan, don’t worry. The series is coming to you also in the form of Rockman. Oh no! They see me. I have to go now."

[Mega Man 9 in the works? Spacecat tells all via Destructoid]

With the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 on it’s way, a rumor is going around that the original Metal Gear Solid might be heading to Xbox Live Arcade.

"MGS might be following its tactical steps onto the PS3 and PSP, via an Xbox Live Arcade infiltration. This is not too surprising, since the series has made its way onto non-Playstation consoles a number of times, and Microsoft even published MGS for the PC release."

As in other words, Metal Gears Solid maybe headed to XBLA but yet there’s still isn’t words from Konami, the makers of the game.

We will keep you updated

Read More… (by clicking link)

[Rumour: Metal Gear Solid Coming to XBLA via Ripten]

Ubisoft has confirmed with CVG that a demo for Tom Clancy’s: EndWar will be hitting this year on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. The demo will precede two closed beta tests that will give Ubisoft the opportunity to make sure the game is properly balanced.

Ubisoft content director Julian told CVG that “We’ve balanced it fairly well, but we’re doing two different beta tests – one limited and one much much bigger.”

“And then a demo where we’re going to be able to balance on the results. We’re doing a playtest with professional gamers to make sure there are as few exploits as possible before launch.”

[EndWar demo coming to PSN/XBLA via CVG]

Today Microsoft announced that next week’s Xbox Live Arcade game will be Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness , Episode One will be available for download May 21.

In there Press Released there said “On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is an RPG-Adventure game set in the comic-book-meets-pulp-horror-meets-H.P. Lovecraft deranged 1920s universe of New Arcadia, delivering mature and compelling entertainment to gamers via accessible episodic delivery.”

For many people who enjoy the Penny Arcade Comics defiantly picking this high action arcade game up.